The affections of the remnant to the King and those of the
assembly

The Lamentations of Jeremiah -- a touching expression of the
interest which God feels in the afflictions which His people
undergo on account of their sins -- will not require much
explanation as to the general meaning of the book. A few remarks
may be useful, to shew the true character of this book, and its
connection with the dealings of God, as revealed to us
elsewhere. The first interesting point -- to which I have already
alluded -- is that the affliction of His people does not escape
the eye of God. He is afflicted in their affliction: His Spirit
takes knowledge of it; and, acting in the heart of those whose
mouth He uses, gives expression to the feelings He has produced
there. Thus Christ wept over the hard-heartedness of Jerusalem,
and invited its inhabitants to do so likewise. And here also His
Spirit not only reproves and reveals things to come; He gives a
form to the grief of those who love what God loves, and furnishes
the expression of it Himself.